Perfidious (Behind Smoke And Mirrors-Book 1)

20| Wives Of Wisdom

It is your decisions and not your conditions, that determine your destiny.

I needed to get out of this place as soon as possible. Both of those twisted individuals made me completely sick to my stomach - the deception, the lies, the pretence.

How could Tatiana do this to Maddox? What would she gain from this?

I knew Maddox was next in line to be the king of Talamaire, the kingdom of gryphons. He was the son of the all-powerful Alpha Djinn with an extensive record of unmatched powers. Not to mention he was a remarkable lover! What was there not to like?

What bothered me, though, was how did he not realise who she was from the beginning.

Witches had a certain scent, it was sweet, spicy, and had undertones of incense and a bit of mint.

I came across plenty of witches and warlocks to know that besides their spells, they also relied on their use of herbs to make the final result more potent.
The most commonly used herbs were jimson weed, mandrake, henbane and valerian, which, if they kissed someone while holding a piece of the root in their mouth, this person would immediately fall in love with them.

Without a doubt, Tatiana must have also used herbs. Therefore, my first stop was going to be the Wives of wisdom in the Scarlet Forest.

It was at least a day's journey from Talamaire and the only way to get there was by foot. If you had any kind of magic it wasn't going to help you once you stepped foot in their territory. The wives of wisdom were the only ones to use magic which they accessed from the nature that surrounded them.

These precautions were put into place for their protection when different kinds of magic folk would try to overthrow them to gain their territory and whatever came with it for their benefit.

Selfishness and the desire to harm others for personal gain were immediately recognised by them and the visitor would be removed from their land in that instance. You couldn't fool them, your intentions were as clear as crystal the moment they laid eyes on you.

I never met them personally but I heard that these witches were wise beyond their age and their soul was the purest.
They were the keeper of the flora so no one had a chance to get access to herbs without their knowledge.

I trekked without stopping. My mind was occupied with Maddox and Tatiana, Tatiana and Samael, and there were Maddox and me.. or were there? I was technically dead and I had no idea why I got myself into this mess.

I wished I could travel back in time, right to the moment where I made the big mistake of leaving Maddox behind due to my cowardice. If only I chose to stay, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
I couldn't help but blame myself for everything. My decision was the deciding factor in other people's current situations. My decision sealed my fate and turned my soul jet black. For someone who wasn't able to withstand funerals, I seemed to thrive on death.

Violence became a part of me, the darkness weaved itself around my heart, turning it into a stone one, kill after kill.
So yes, it was my fault that instead of being in love with life I dreamed of death. And I didn't know if I could die again but if I had the opportunity I would take a hundred daggers to the heart in exchange for Maddox's happiness.

Because no matter what I told myself, I'd rather die in this instance if it meant he got to live a content life with someone who deserved him.

"There is still hope, child!"

Without a second thought, I was in attack mode with two silver barong machetes in each hand, ready to strike.

"Show yourself!"